Rockdale County Sheriff offers condolences to family of jail inmate

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The mother of the Rhode Island man who died in the Rockdale County Jail on March 12 said she's grateful the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating her son's mysterious death but said she still has lots of questions for the sheriff.

“My son should still be here. My son should still be with us. This just doesn't make any sense and we need to know how a healthy 22-year-old dies in a jail cell,” Tynesha Tilson said

Tilson said after her meeting with GBI officials, Rockdale County Sheriff Eric Levett, and other authorities.

Sheriff Levett told FOX 5's Portia Bruner Tilson' s death "doesn't sit well with him." He said he also wants to know what happened to the 22-year-old man who was supposed to be on suicide watch.

“I have nothing to hide and if we did something wrong, we will be held accountable for that. We have to let the GBI finish the investigation and let the facts come out as they are. That's why I asked for the investigation,” the sheriff said Monday.

The Tilson family attorney said witnesses said Tilson was beaten by a deputy at some point during the nine days that he was held on obstruction and disorderly conduct charges.

"A healthy 22-year-old man who was walked into a jail on a misdemeanor charge shouldn't have come out in a body bag. Either that is gross misconduct or gross negligence, either way, that's not supposed to happen," said attorney Mawuli Davis.

The sheriff said he could not comment on the specifics of the case or the family's allegations citing the GBI investigation but did say all video from the jail cell has been turned over to the investigating agency.